Celtic progressed through to the semi-finals of the SFA Cup on Sunday as they came away with a less-than-comfortable 4-2 win over Livingston at Parkhead.
The away side pegged the Hoops back twice during the game but a hat-trick from Daizen Maeda, on his 100th appearance for the club in all competitions, and a late strike from Kyogo Furuhashi secured the win.
Brendan Rodgers brought the Japan international off the bench to find the back of the net, after Adam Idah failed to score for the second match in succession – having also missed a penalty against Hearts.
The Ireland international, who was brought in from Norwich City on loan on deadline day during the last summer transfer window, has enjoyed a strong start to life in Glasgow.
However, Celtic could have had an upgrade on Idah and a perfect striker for Rodgers had they not cashed in on Greek star Giorgos Giakoumakis under Ange Postecoglou last year.
How much Celtic sold Giorgos Giakoumakis for
The Scottish giants decided to part ways with the striker in February 2023 as MLS outfit Atlanta United swooped in to secure his services for a fee of £4.3m, which included £3.5m up-front.
That came under two years on from their £2.5m deal to sign him from Dutch side VVV-Venlo in the summer of 2021, which was Postecoglou's first window in charge of the club.
The Hoops won the Scottish Premiership title by the end of the 2021/22 campaign under the Australian head coach, and Giakoumakis played a key role in that success.
He plundered an eye-catching 13 goals and one assist in 21 top-flight appearances for the club, despite only 11 of those appearances being as a starter. The talented marksman was also the club's top goalscorer in the division that term, as Kyogo finished behind him with 12 goals.
Giakoumakis, who was hailed as "underrated" by journalist Josh Bunting, then found game time hard to come by during the following season as Kyogo was on fire with 27 goals in 31 league starts for Celtic.
The Japanese forward's sublime form meant that the Greek international was restricted to just four starts and 15 appearances in total in the top-flight. However, he did still manage to fire in six goals and assist one in that time, before his £4.3m move to Atlanta.
This meant that Giakoumakis ended his Celtic career with a staggering return of 19 goals and two assists in 15 starts, and 36 appearances overall, in the Premiership.
The 29-year-old ace, who scored 26 goals in 57 matches in all competitions, proved himself to be lethal in the box as a traditional number nine, and his goalscoring talent has been on full display since his move to the MLS last year.
Giorgos Giakoumakis' MLS stats for Atlanta United
Having arrived from the Hoops for £4.3m in February 2023, there may have been an expectation that Giakoumakis would hit the ground running in America.
However, they may not have envisaged it going quite as well as it has, as the impressive number nine has been prolific, to say the least, in the MLS.
Appearances
30
Starts
24
Expected Goals
14.82
Goals
19
Assists
2
Big chances created
4
As you can see in the table above, the Greek international plundered an outstanding return of 19 goals in 24 starts, with a goal every 108 minutes on average.
19 goals from an xG of 14.82 perfectly illustrates how lethal the former Celtic striker is in front of goal. He rarely passes up a good opportunity to find the back of the net, with his ruthless finishing inside the box.
Giakoumakis has also enjoyed a dream start to the 2023 MLS campaign. The devastating forward has scored three goals – from 1.75 xG – in two appearances, with a hat-trick against New England over the weekend.
This means that the experienced striker has scored 22 goals in 26 starts for Atlanta in the MLS, on top of the 19 goals in 15 league starts he managed for Celtic, and the 26 goals in 30 Eredivisie starts for VVV-Venlo during the 2020/21 campaign before his move to Scotland.
A sensational return of 67 goals in 71 league starts for those three clubs since the summer of 2020 illustrates his clinical nature, and shows why he would have been the perfect striker for Rodgers, and an upgrade on Idah.
Adam Idah's stats this season
The Ireland international joined the Hoops on deadline day after a return of six goals in 28 appearances – and 12 starts – in the Championship for Norwich during the first half of the season.
Last month, Rodgers highlighted Luis Suarez's development under him at Liverpool by narrowing the centre-forward's play to ensure that he is focused on his actions inside the box and in the final third, and used that as an example for Idah to follow.
Instead of dropping deep or moving out wide to go and get involved in matches, the attacker has been urged to stay central and be in the right place at the right time to score.
It appears to have worked for the 23-year-old dynamo so far, as the Irish gem has plundered five goals and one assist in six appearances and four starts in the Premiership, although he has failed to score in two SFA Cup outings.
Appearances
30
34
Starts
24
16
Goals
19
11
Expected Goals
14.82
9.52
Goals per start
0.79
0.69
Stats via Sofascore & WhoScored
As you can see in the table above, Giakoumakis would still be an upgrade on Idah – in spite of his improvement under Rodgers – based on their respective form in front of goal.
The Greek international, who also outscored his number of starts during his time with Celtic, scored more frequently than the Ireland international, and outperformed his xG by more, which suggests that he is the better finisher out of the two.
Giakoumakis is the perfect striker for Rodgers as he is a typical penalty box centre-forward, with only 0.4 dribbles completed and 0.8 key passes per game in the MLS last year, who does not waste much time getting involved in matches away from the area.
Therefore, the Hoops had already fumbled the dream number nine for the Northern Irish head coach before his return to the club later that year.
However, hindsight is a wonderful thing, and it would be harsh to overly criticise the Bhoys for that decision as it was made with Postecoglou, who favoured Kyogo in that role, in charge at the time.